Conveying mechanism



NOV. 10, 1931. J. QUINN 1,831,508

CONVEYING MECHANI SM Original Filed Aug. 16 19g 2 Sheets-Shee l Edvagdj Qaz' 72 w NOV. 10, 1931. 1 QU|NN 1,831,508

CONVEYING MECHANISM Original Filed Aug. 16 2 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 t" /zz fl Patented Nov. 10, 1931 UNITED S ATES,-

PATENT OFFICE" v EDWARD J. QUINN, or] woRcnsTnR, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To' iuoneaiv con STRUGTION COMPANY, or V WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION or Y MASSACHUSETTS CONVEYING mncnaivislvr Continuation of application Serial no.

This invention, as described in mycopending application Serial No. 129,486, filed August 16, 1926, of which the present application is a continuation, relates to conveying I mechanism of the type that provides aseriesv 1 forms, such for example as lumber or the various rolled products of a steel mill.

According to the invention, and in conse quence ofthe mountingand arrangement of the several conveyor'rollers, certain new and highly useful results in the handling and disposition of the conveyed materials are obtainechamong others, the ability of the mechanism to procure, when desired,'the broadside delivery of the conveyed material from the rollers in either direction, for discharge or removal from the conveyor at any selected point. 1 i

As hereinafter described in detail, the invention is particularly applicable to arolling mill runout, from which it may be desired to discharge the longitudinally conveyed pieces of stock sidewise, andselectively ineither direction, onto cooling beds or other receiving devices that flank said runout on opposite sides. Other and further features and, advantages of the invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description thereof, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which Figs. 1 and 2 are diagrammatic plan views of conveying mechanism ofmy' invention, as applied, for instance, to a rolling mill runout, situated between two oppositely disposed cooling beds or receiving devices.

Fig. 3 is a'view in side elevation of the conveying mechanism shown in Fig. 2, the cool- .ing bed parts being omitted.

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view, showing on an enlarged scale one of the roller units of my conveying mechanism, the plane of the ilelction being indicated by the line 1-4 of 2. e ig. 5 is a diagrammatic plan view, showing a particularmode of operation ofthe invention.

129,486, filed August '16, 1926. This application filed January 25,

1929. Serial No. 335,063.

Like reference characters refer to like parts a in the different figures.

Referring first to Fig. 1, my invention is embodied in a series of alined conveyor rollers 1, 1, which are shown arranged, in the usual manner, with their material-supporting sur faces in a common plane, slightly above a suitably supported floor or platform2 which has openings 2a, through which the rollers 1, 1 project.

Accordingto the invention, and: as best shown in Fig. 3, each roller 1 is mounted, for rotation about its own axis, in a yoke-like supporting member 3, which itself, as hereinafter described, is capable of a certain swinging or turning movement relative to the stationary floor or platform 2 of the conveyor.

The axial rotation of each roller 1 may be secured in any well-known manner; for example, as shown in Fig. 1', each roller 1 may havean individual self-contained electric drive, in the form of the well-known type of electric motor wherein the usual relative positions of stator and rotor elements are inter changed. 7

In such a construction, as shown in Fig. 4, the rollerproper, in the form of a hollow cylindrical shell, has at its ends the heads 4: and 5, both of which are suitably recessed, as shown at 6, for the reception of the ball bearings 7, 7., by which the roller 1 is rotatably mounted on a stationary arbor 8,the latter being supported by and bridging the forked arms 30!, 3a of yoke 3. Extending inwardly from the headed and 5 are the annular meeting flanges. 4a and 5a, which inclose a space within the roller 1 to receive an electric driv ing motor of the above described well-known type, the stator of which isconstituted by an annular core 9 secured to the stationary arbor 8 and carrying the primary motor winding 10,-and the rotor of which is the surrounding rotatable structure carrying a core 11 and a short-circuited secondary motor Winding 12 on the interior Wall of the roller. Electric current supplied by leads 13 to the primary winding 10 produces rotation of the above described rotor assembly on its bearings 7, 7; the fact that each roller 1 has its drive Within itself, instead of exterior thereto,

gives opportunity for the roller axes to assume a variety of positions, in order to secure any desired sidewise movement of the conveyed material, as hereinafter described.

To this end, each supporting yoke 3 has a downwardly extending shaft portion 14, by which said yoke is pivotally mounted, vertically, in a sleeve bearing 15 provided by a stationary post 16,there being aseries of such posts 16 beneath the conveyor for its entire length. Secured to each shaft 14 is a bevel gear 17, each of said gears 17 being in mesh with one of a series of bevel pinions 18, 18 carried by an elongated shaft 19 that eX- tends longitudinally of the conveyor and passes through suitably enlarged openings 20, 20 of the several yokes 3, 3. Said shaft 19, as thus operatively connected to each of the pivotally mounted yokes 3, 3, is adapted to secure, by its angular movement, the skewing in unison of the several rollers 1, 1 in either direction, as desired; Fig. 1 shows said rollers 1, 1 with their axes normal to the direction in which the conveyed material is delivered by the preceding runout rollers 21, 21, and under these conditions, of course, the forward straight line travel of said material as shown at A is maintained on said rollers 1, 1; when the shaft 19 is rocked in one direction, said rollers, 1, 1 are moved in unison into the full line positions shown in Fig. 2, whereupon there is imparted to the conveyed material a combined forward and sidewise movement from position A. to position B in Fig. 2,-the continuance of which movement, in the absence of encountering anyobstruction, results in the broadside discharge of said material o'lf the ends of the rollers 1, 1. When the shaft 19 is rocked in the opposite direction, to dispose the several rollers 1, 1 in the broken line'positions of Fig. 2, the sidewise component of the motion imparted to the conveyed material is towards the other ends of said rollers, for broadside discharge off said ends in the absence of obstruction thereto; in either case, no obstruction is offered by any shafting or driving mechanism for the rollers, because, as described above, I prefer to use rollers w1th self-contained drlves, although my lnvention, of course, is not limited .in this respect.

An adaptation of my invention, as de scribed above, to procure sidewise discharge of successively delivered rolled pieces, alternately, to a pair of oppositely arranged cooling beds, whose skids are indicated at 22 and 22, respectively, utilizes, in conjunction with the several pivotally mounted roller units, a guiding means to line up and straighten the conveyed material on the rollers, prior to its sidewise delivery to said cooling beds. Said guiding means here shown as consisting of a series of members 23, 23, in the nature of side-guards, for insuring alinement of the conveyed material on the rollers l, 1, and.

bed 22.

adapted to act also, if desired, as kick-offs, to assist in the broadside discharge of said material, as hereinafter described. For this last purpose, said members 23, 23 may be attached to the shaft 19 by arms 24, 24, the latter passing through transverse slots 25, 25 in the table of platform 2. Said slots are of sufiicient length, of course, to permit the shaft 19 to rock freely in either direction, in the act of skewing the rollers 1, 1, as "above described. As shown diagrammatically in Fig. 5, the rollers 1, 1 are positioned, for example, in a skewed relation to the line of delivery from the runout rollers 21, 21, whereby the first-delivered piece will be carried sidewise toward the cooling bed 22, until it brings up against the members 23, 23, which, in this position of the rollers 1, 1 stand as obstructions to further broadside movement, as shown in Fig. 2, and also by the full lines in Fig. 4.

The piece, such as A, thus urged sidewise by the skewed rollers 1, 1 against the members 23, 23, is lined up and straightened by this action,and before the next-delivered piece arrives on said rollers, the shaft 19 is operated to shift the several yokes 3, 3 pivotally, to. move said rollers into the broken line positions of Fig. 2. This action, if the angle of skew is suliicient, causes the rollers l, 1, in forwarding the piece A, to move it clear across the conveyor for discharge sidewise from the ends of said rollers into the first notch 26, Fig. 4, of cooling bed 22"; in any event, the members 23, 23, by their simul- ,1;

taneous movement to the position indicated by broken lines in Fig. 4, will supplement the roller action by pushing against the piece until it drops off the ends of rollers 1, 1 into said first notch 26 of the cooling bed 22'.

Inasmuch as the rollers 1, 1 are now skewed oppositely, with reference to their 'firstdescribed positions, the next piece arriving on said rollers initially moves sidewise toward the cooling bed 22, until it brings up ne against the members 23, 23 in the broken line .position thereof shown by Fig. 4. Thereupon the shaft 19 is again actuated to simultaneously shift the rollers 1, 1 back to the positions of Fig. 5, and to return the mem- 1 bers 23, 23 to full line position, Fig. 4, this last action moving this piece oppositely to the previous piece across the conveyor and dropping it into the first notch 27 of cooling And so on, to discharge the successively delivered pieces, alternately, first to one cooling bed, and then to the other cooling bed.

I claim,

1. In a conveying mechanism, the combination with a series of obliquely arranged rollers adapted by their rotation to cause combined longitudinal and broadside movement of material thereon, of a series of mem bers for limiting broadside movement of the material across the rollers in either direction, and means for moving said members to cause broadside removal of a piece of material from the rollers in one direction, said broadside removal being accompanied by a reversal of the obliquity of said rolls preparatory to broadside movement of the next succeeding piece of material in the opposite direction.

2. In a conveying mechanism, the combination with a series of obliquely arranged rollers adapted b their rotation to cause combined longitu inal and broadside movement of material thereon, of a. series of members for limiting the broadside movement of the material across the rollers in either direction, and means for reversing the obliquity of said rollers and the position of said members to cause the material to run out on said rollers in broadside engagement with said members on either side as selected.

3. In a conveying mechanism, the combination with a series of obliquely arranged rollers adapted by their rotation to cause combined longitudinal and broadside movement of material thereon, of a series of members for limiting the broadside movement of the material on the rollers, means for operating said members to cause broadside removal of a piece of material from the rollers by said members, and means responsive to the operation of said members for procuring a reversal of the obliquity of said rollers to cause broadside engagement of the material with said members in their new position.

4. In a conveying mechanism, the combination with a series of rollers adapted for rota-- tion on horizontal axes and for pivotal movement on vertical axes, whereby'to cause combined longitudinal and broadside movement of material on said rolls, and a series of pivotally mounted members disposed between said rollers for limiting broadside movement of the material on the rollers, of means for turning said members to cause broadside re moval of a piece of material from said rollers, and an operative connection between said members and said rollers for simultaneously turning said rollers on their pivotal axes to cause the next succeeding piece of material to be moved across the rollers into broadside engagement with said members in their new position.

5. Conveying mechanism of the class described, comprising a series of alined rotatable rollers for the support and longitudinal movement of the material to be conveyed, a mounting for each roller, said mounting adapted to pivot on a vertical axis which intersects the roller axis substantially at its center, and means for pivotally shifting said mountings in unison, selectively in either direction, thereby to skew the roller axes so as to efiect broadside delivery of the conveyed material 011' the ends of said rollers.

6. Conveying mechanism of the class described, comprising a series of alined rotatable rollers for the support and longitudinal movement of the material to be conveyed, guiding means for said material, said guiding means extending in the direction of the longitudinal movement of said material on said rollers, and means for skewing said rollers,

the conveyed material when the several roller axes are skewed in one direction, and means for reversing the skew of said roller axes, to procure sidewise discharge of the material thereon to one of said receiving devices, and the movement of subsequent material received thereon into engagement with the opposite side of said guiding means.

8. The combination with a series of alined rotatable conveyorrollers, of guiding means associated with said rollers and engaged on one side by the conveyed material when the several roller axes are skewed in one direction, and means for reversing the skew of said roller axes, to procure sidewise delivery of the material thereon from said rollers at one end, and the sidewise movement of subsequent material received thereon into engagement with the opposite side of said guiding means.

EDWARD J. QUINN. 

